Famed actor Mark Wahlberg is known for his many roles, one of which is playing as Cade Yeager in the fourth and fifth installment Transformers film series. In the film, Wahlberg gets to ride Bumblebee, a Chevrolet Camaro. In real life, Wahlberg gets to sell not just a Camaro, but other Chevrolet vehicles in his new car dealership business.

According to a report by The Detroit News, Wahlberg has announced that he is opening a car dealership – his very first -- Columbus, Ohio. Wahlberg’s car dealership is a result of partnership inked with seasoned car dealer, Jay Feldman. A businessman in his own right, Feldman is an owner of not just one, but eight Chevrolet dealerships across southeast and mid-Michigan. The report says that Wahlberg and Feldman have been friends for years now, and are partners in Wahlburgers restaurants in Cleveland and Georgia.

It is easy pretty much easy to locate Wahlberg’s new car dealership in Columbus. After all, the dealership bears his name -- Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet, and it is located in a former Chevrolet dealership the duo has bought in 3900 W. Broad St., Columbus. Interestingly, the Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet dealership will feature the same “W” logo that has come to distinguish his Wahlburger chains. These burger chains are found in a number of locations in the United States, like in Palo Alto, California and in Orlando, Florida. A Wahlburger can also be farther north, in Toronto Canada.

At last, the new 2019 Acura RDX is arriving this June, and customers interested in purchasing this reengineered and redesigned SUV would need at least around $38,295 (including destination) in their pockets to own the entry-level version of this luxury vehicle.

The base two-wheel drive model of the 2019 Acura RDX has a window sticker price of $37,300, before $995 in destination fees. The base 2019 RDX with the Super Handling-All Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) system, on the other hand, is priced at $39,300 before $995 destination fees. At this starting price, the Acura RDX is essentially less expensive than the BMW X3 (at $41,000), the Audi Q5 (at $41,500), and the Volvo XC60 (at $41,500). However, the new RDX is bit pricier than the Infiniti QX50 (at $36,550), the Lexus NX (at $35,985) and the Lincoln MKC (at $33,995).

Interestingly, some standard equipment and features on the RDX are offered as optional on more expensive luxury SUVs like the X3 and the Mercedes-Benz GLC 300. These include adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, lane keep assist as well as road departure mitigation. Furthermore, the base RDX with SH-AWD comes standard with LED headlights, a panoramic moonroof, as well as a set of 19-inch wheels.

Alexander Schmuck, BMW spokesperson, recently confirmed that the 2019 BMW M2 Competition will finally go on sale in July, with a starting price of $58,900.

BMW also revealed its options range for the brand’s newest high performance model. For instance, getting a metallic paint would cost $550, while a moonroof is priced at $1,050, and the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission will be priced at $2,900.

There will also be an M Driver’s Package for $2,500 that will boost the speed limiter to 174 miles per hour (280 kilometers per hour) from the original max speed of 155 miles per hour (249 kilometers per hour). Customers will also be required to join a one-day driving school at the BMW Performance Center. There will also be an $850 Executive Package that includes a heated steering wheel, adaptive LED headlights, automatic high beams, wireless device charging, and speed limit monitor.

Automakers have been jumping on the bandwagon of offering subscription vehicle service. You may have already heard about BMW’s Access by BMW or Porsche’s Passport. Now, Mercedes-Benz is planning to join the lateset trend of car sharing with the newest Mercedes-Benz Collection, a monthly subscription that will launch in two United States cities in the summer. These are Nashville, Tennessee, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The two cities will act as test beds for the Mercedes Benz Collection. For some reason, BMW also chose Nashville to be the starting point of their service, while Porsche went for Atlanta, Georgia. In particular, Mercedes Benz Collection will let users swap vehicles depending on their needs and their lifestyles.

As such, there will be different levels to the monthly subscription, and that will depend on how much you are willing to spend too. Subscribers will have an option to rent everything from sedans to SUVs, to roadsters and wagons, including Mercedes-AMG models in each tier.

Audi opened the order books for the Audi R8 V10 RWS ((Rear Wheel Series) in fall 2017 in Europe, with the model already arriving in dealership earlier this year. At the time it was unveiled, it was still unsure whether Audi is bring the new R8 V10 RWS to the United States. Now, the premium carmaker is indeed bringing the R8 V10 RWS, at a hefty starting price of $139,950 each, Motor Trend says citing its own source.

At this pricing, the Audi R8 V10 RWS – the carmaker’s first-ever production and street-legal rear-wheel-drive R8 model – is around $26,000 cheaper than the Quattro model. However, those who are interested in acquiring this edition of the R8 should remain always alert as to when it would arrive in the US, because only 320 examples are allocated for this market. While Audi didn’t give an official date for the arrival of the R8 V10 RWS in the US, it is expected that this would occur in the last quarter of the year.

The German carmaker only needed to get rid of the Quattro all-wheel-drive system to pave way to the RWD layout, thereby giving birth to the R8 V10 RWS. However, its powerful naturally aspirated V10 remains the same. The removal of the Quattro allowed the R8 V10 RWS to trim its weight by as much as 50 kg (110 pounds) for the Coupe model, and around 40 kg (88 lbs.) for the Spyder variant.

We are all aware that the 2019 Volkswagen Jetta will hit dealerships by the end of this year. But that is not the only thing that we are excited about as it will also be cheaper than its predecessor. The company just announced that the MQB based sedan will have a price tag of $18,545 when it goes on sale later this year - excluding handling and destination. This still makes it $100 less than the outgoing model which starts at $18,645.

The VW Jetta comes in a number of different trims, and the most standard one will be the S trim that is equipped with a 1.4 liter turbocharged engine that makes 147 horsepower (109 kilowatts) and 184 pound feet (249 Newton metres) of torque. The Jetta S will then be working with a standard six speed manual transmission, or you could opt for the eight speed automatic transmission for a little more (plus $800). Some its other standard features are its 16 inch wheels, LED headlights and taillights, and a 6.5 inch infotainment screen, which has Bluetooth connectivity and is compatible with your Apple and Android devices.

The next trim will be the SE model that starts at $22,155. This trim will be getting the same 1.4 liter turbocharged engine that is exclusively paired to an eight speed automatic, without a manual option. Additional features include a panoramic sunroof, a dual zone automatic climate control, a leather wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, and heated front seats. Safety features that come standard with this include forward collision assist and blind spot monitoring with rear traffic alert.

There seems to be a developing trade war between the United States and China. Something of this nature will result to losses for both parties and is particularly detrimental for the auto industry. Recently, the Unites States proposed an increase of tariffs on products entering the US from China. And in response to that, the People’s Republic of China is proposing something similar. Unfortunately, their policies cover American cars too.

If you’ve been following news reports, you’d know that President Trump first proposed tariffs of about $50 billion of goods coming into the country from China. Increased taxes applied to products including a number of important car parts like torque converters, lithium batteries, and catalytic converters. This has a huge impact on business involving motorcycles and buses.

Subsequently, China decided to suggest tariffs on $50 billion American products that include cars and planes. Even after this exchange between both countries, President Trump still refuses to call this a trade war. But there’s really no other description for this situation except that. In fact, the President of the Unites States even tweeted about this, saying that trade war is long gone and that it only occurred because of the incompetence of the previous administration.

Finally, the refreshed 2019 Buick Envision has been revealed to us by the automaker. Buick then says that most of these changes on both its looks and its mechanism were made in response to their customers’ feedback for the crossover when the 2016 model year was launched.

The 2019 Buick Envision now has a new front fascia, with the new headlights and the grille that make the facelifted model look more like the other new Buick models. It now sits on a set of 19 inch wheels and the rear has got new taillights as well. HID headlights now come as a standard, and customers could go for the optional LEDs on the top two trim levels.

They can also opt for the optional 2.0 liter inline four engine that carries out 295 pound feet of torque, which is a good improvement from the previous 260. Power output, however, remains at 252 horsepower. This engine is paired to a nine speed automatic transmission instead of the six speed transmission on its predecessor.

For those of you who are interested to own one of the BMW i8 Roadsters, be ready to spend some serious cash as the convertible that made its debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show last year will finally arrive in March. And the good news is that this will come with a handful of new features including the E-Copper leather, 20 inch wheels, a head-up display, and heated front seats, and of course, an inflated price tag.

If BMWBlog sources are valid, the BMW i8 Roadster will have a starting price of $163,300, which does not include the $995 destination fee yet. If the automaker ends up selling it for that price, then it will be the most expensive BMW on the market right now. In fact, that makes it $19,900 more expensive than the current i8 coupe that has a price tag of $143,400.

As usual, if you add all the optional features that the automaker can add to it, this model will dig even deeper into your wallets but it also gets much cooler. For instance, adding a set of laser lights for the i8 Roadster will cost you $6,300.

Mercedes-Benz recently announced their newest A-Class model, and we think that the upgraded hatchback looks amazing beside the rest of its siblings, plus the fact that it now highlights the new MBUX infotainment technology that just makes it extra modern - in fact, way more than the rest of the models. With all that good news, there is one thing that might disappoint you, and it is the fact that there will not be a hatchback version of the A-Class in the United States - sorry to burst your bubble.

This is because Mercedes plans to only sell the five door A-Class in markets outside of the United States, while the American market only gets the four-door model. In fact, Canadians will even be able to get their hands on the hatchback configuration. This was confirmed by Mercedes Benz Canada CEO, Brian D. Fulton, during his interview with The Truth About Cars.

Fulton supported his statement by saying that their US colleagues already confirmed the idea that only the sedan version of the A-Class will be sold in North America. Meanwhile, Canada will get both versions: the sedan and the hatchback. More details on the sedan will be released later this year.

Genesis and Hyundai are finally working together to begin the establishment of a network of Genesis-exclusive dealerships in the United States.

It was just last Friday when a statement confirmed that existing Hyundai dealers in the United States were offered the opportunity to establish separate Genesis franchises. In other words, dealerships that already sell Genesis vehicles today will finally be able to apply for a Genesis franchise if they wish to do so. The automaker actually hopes to establish a network of around 100 retailers by the end of this year.

In the United States, there are around 350 Hyundai dealerships that carry Genesis models. And when the franchises begin to pop up, then this will help cement the idea of Genesis being a standalone brand, more than a sub brand of Hyundai. This also permits Genesis specific franchises only to perform warranty work. Initially, they will have a selection process for this, choosing from a limited number of dealers who are party to the Genesis Participation Agreemen. The next three years will be busy for the automaker, as they will be building dealerships during this period.

Scott Keogh, President of Audi of America, said in his interview with Roadshow that the United States market will again be able to get their hands on a RS5 Sportback that will soon join the RS5 Coupe. It took a while for the automaker to mention the existence of a range-topping variant of the stylish four door. Information on its availability in different regions has also not been divulged yet.

But that is not all. In fact, Keogh mentioned that they have another surprise that they are working on, though he stopped himself from saying further and did not reveal what it was. Instead, he teased us by saying that there is a cool European model that they have not brought in to the United States just yet, and that he considers it to be his number one car, and they perhaps they will get it. But to date, he did not confirm any of these reports.

If you analyze what Keogh said even further, there are a number of possibilities for this. Keogh could be referring to an RS4 Avant, depending on the timeframe he has in mind. That is because the said model is already ready right now and that it only needs an executive to sign off so it could already be added to the US lineup. The only problem here is that it might take 25 more years for this model to become eligible for US import.

As of today, Jeep’s smallest SUV would be the Renegade, measuring just over 13 feet (396 centimeters) long, and 5 feet (152 cm) tall. To compare that with its largest range topping model, the Grand Cherokee has impressive dimensions of 16 feet (487 cm) long and almost 6 feet (182 cm) tall - that depends on the trim level still. Now, the American automaker believes that they could go another size down from the Renegade, as they plan to introduce a new SUV to be built in Europe.

In an interview between Automotive News and Mike Manley, the automaker’s CEO, he mentioned that the company is looking into an SUV that will be sized smaller than the Renegade, which he refers to as the “baby” Jeep. If this model pushes through as planned, it will be built in Europe, and will be sold in markets outside of the United States. Too bad, the Americans won’t get a mini Jeep.

If everything goes as planned, the baby Jeep will be built where the Fiat Panda minicar is being built, at FCA’s factory in Pomigliano, near Naples in Italy. According to some sources, the American automaker has been tossing around the idea of a baby SUV at FCA’s Pomigliano plant since early last year, telling them that this model could be built on the same platform as the Panda, 500 minicars, and the Lancia Ypsilon. However, this project has suffered many stops and starts.

In the United States, diesel engines were never really that big. Sales of cars with diesel engines were even more dismal. And if there is one type of vehicle where diesel has had the most success, it would be the pickup trucks. In fact, automakers like Ford, Chevrolet, and Ram now offer diesel options in half-ton trucks. Meanwhile, Chevy offers a diesel in its mid-size Colorado, Jeep, on the other hand will soon offer its new Wrangler with a diesel model.

Clearly, there are disadvantages to offering diesel variants. Mercedes-Benz has decided to scrap its plan to offer it in its lineup. In fact, the only model it has that still has this engine is its Sprinter van. Ola Kallenius, who oversees Mercedes’ research and development, said that there is simply not enough demand for this in the United States for them to justify the extra effort.

He told The Detroit Bureau during the 2018 Detroit Auto Show that the diesel engine just does not fit into the US portfolio. But instead, it does much better in complying with the standard for emissions in Europe.

2017 was definitely a great year for Porsche as the automaker was able to break their sales record in the United States. Overall, they delivered a total of 55,420 vehicles, which stands for a 2.1 percent increase over the previous year.

Of course, you are probably wondering which model contributed the most to the total. And to answer your question, that would be the Macan. In fact, that nameplate alone sold 21,429 units, which is a huge improvement over 2016, which posted a total of 19,332 units delivered. Next in line is the Cayenne, which had 13,203 deliveries. The third most popular car would be the 911, which sold 6,731 units.

Just like the 911, 6,731 units of the Panamera premium sedan were sold as well. The Cayman and Boxster duo, on the other hand, reported 5,087 units in combined deliveries.

Infiniti will commence sales of the new 2019 Infiniti QX50 in the spring, with a starting price of $36,550. But before the big launch, Infiniti has introduced a new reservation program that will allow customers to rack up luxurious rewards. But this pre-launch reservation rewards program isn't just about making customers happy, but also about increasing the hype and sales of the new 2019 Infiniti QX50.

Designed to rack up more reservations, the pre-launch reservation rewards program for the 2019 QX50 is divided into three tiers. Once a tier is unlocked by reaching a certain number of reservations, it opens up certain luxury rewards for customers. Unlocking the second tier and the third tier means upgraded luxury gifts for customers.

The first tier unlocks when the luxury carmaker receives more than 4,000 reservations. This was easily reached, and according to Infiniti USA’s Web site, the luxury carmaker has already taken 8,032 reservations (as of this writing). This meant that the second tier of luxury rewards has already been unlocked at 8,000 reservations. For the third tier to be unlocked, the total reservations received by Infiniti for the 2019 QX50 need to reach 12,000.

Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (PCNA), revealed that in the U.S. market, a total of 3,913 units were sold in December 2017. These are for the model lines that include the 718 Boxster, 911, Cayenne, Cayman, Macan, and Panamera. With this, total U.S. vehicle sales of the Porsche for 2017 are 55,420 units. This is higher by 2.1% when compared to sales in 2016, at 54,280 units.

Meanwhile, sales of the Porsche Approved Certified Pre-Owned vehicles amounted to 2,153 units. This represents an increase of 24.6% compared to sales in December 2016. In terms of total annual sales, the figure stands at 19,104 deliveries, an increase of 12.5%.

For December 2017, the Porsche Macan represented almost 37% of the total sales with 1,444 units sold. This was followed by the Cayenne at 24% with 940 units and at third is the 911 at around 20% for 773 units sold. However, it is worth noting that compared to the previous year, the Cayenne was down around 20% with the 911 experiencing a slight increase at 9%.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Smart brand in the United States. The company aims to celebrate this milestone by launching a special edition 10th Anniversary Edition of the Fortwo Coupe Electric Drive sometime this year.

The Anniversary Edition will be painted in an exclusive shade of blue which they call the Sapphire Blue Metallic, while the exterior will be getting 10th Anniversary badges to give the car some accents. It will be sitting on a set of 16-inch Brabus Monoblock VII wheels, painted in Matte Anthracite Grey to give it a little contrast. Overall, we think that it has a cool colour combination, with the dark blue body and the wheels that stand out.

Most of the changes for the special edition car can be found on the exterior. Though there are changes in the cabin, they may not be as significant. And the only obvious ones include the Brabus-supplied parts for the shift knob and floor mats. Unlike the regular model, the 10th Anniversary Edition model will be getting the Sport Package as a standard. This means that it will be getting brushed stainless steel pedal covers and a leather-wrapped steering wheel.

A couple of months ago, we talked about the mutually beneficial long term partnership inked by two Japanese giant automakers, Toyota and Mazda. Later on, they revealed that this will involve the construction of a manufacturing facility located in the United States. But it is only now that they revealed where this will be built.

The Toyota-Mazda manufacturing facility will be built in Huntsville, Alabama, which is located 150 miles (241 kilometers) away from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the location of Mercedes-Benz’s plant.

To build this, both companies invested as much as $1.6 billion. The factory will employ about 4,000 people (a plan praised by the US president when he was in Tokyo), with a long-term goal of producing up to 300,000 cars annually.

Interested to get Buick’s latest rendition of the Avenir? It isn’t really a range-topping trim as it’s actually treated as a sub-brand. Before it came out as the LaCrosse sedan, this model first appeared as a four-door concept, and was initially introduced as the Enclave SUV. As you know, the Enclave Avenir has a starting price of $53,500, and the LaCrosse will be priced a little cheaper when it finally goes on sale in a few weeks.

Let us get into more detail regarding the prices of the LaCrosse trims. Firstly, the luxurious 2018 Buick LaCrosse Avenir can be had for a reasonable price of $45,795. This makes it $3,700 more expensive than the standard LaCrosse Premium, which has a price tag of $42,095 (inclusive of a destination cost of $925).

Under the hood of the LaCrosse Avenir is the same 3.6 liter engine that can be found in the Premium model. It carries out 310 horsepower (231 kilowatts) and 268 pound-feet (363 Newton-metres) of torque, paired to a nine speed automatic transmission. But since it is priced a little more, expect it to come with some extra features too.